Brisket
is a cut of meat from the
breast or lower chest of
beef or veal. The beef brisket
is one of the nine beef
primal cuts. The brisket
muscles include the superficial
and deep pectorals. As cattle
do not have collar bones,
these muscles support about
60% of the body weight of
standing/moving cattle.
This requires a significant
amount of connective tissue,
so the resulting meat must
be cooked correctly to tenderize
the connective tissue.

Brisket can be cooked many
ways. Basting of the meat is
often done during the
cooking process. This
normally tough cut of meat,
due to the collagen fibers
that make up the significant
connective tissue in the
cut, is tenderized when the
collagen gelatinizes,
resulting in more tender
brisket. The fat cap often
left attached to the brisket
helps to keep the meat from
drying during the prolonged
cooking necessary to break
down the connective tissue
in the meat. Water is
necessary for the conversion
of collagen to gelatin.

In traditional Jewish
cooking, brisket is most
often braised as a pot
roast, especially as a
holiday main course, usually
served at
Rosh Hashanah, Passover,
and Shabbot. For reasons of
economics and kashrut, it
was historically one of the
more popular cuts of beef
among Ashkenazi Jews.
Brisket is also the most
popular cut for corned beef,
which can be further spiced
and smoked to make pastrami.

(p. 41) . . .what is different about the
Life-Transforming Diet?. . .[it is]
based on the principles of Rambam. .
.[and it] can be realistically
sustained. We restrict neither food
quantities nor any type of nutritious
foods. We propose eating principles. You
can choose which nutritious foods to eat
when implementing these positive eating
habits.
. . .If you follow the principles then
you do not have to weigh, count or
restrict your food.